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Marin investigators enter second week of probe into East Bay woman's death, family prepares for funeral

By Gary Klien Marin Independent Journal

Posted:
06/14/2013 06:14:54 AM PDT

Updated:
06/14/2013 05:45:53 PM PDT

A week after an East Bay woman's body was found in rural Marin, investigators were still trying to detail her recent past to get clues to her death.

Marin County sheriff's investigators have determined that Trisha Hopfe, 31, was seen in Hayward on June 1 -- six days before her body was found near Olema -- but her movements after that are unclear, Lt. Jamie Scardina said.

Hopfe apparently did not have a cellphone, making it impossible for investigators to review texts and phone calls that could offer revealing clues.

Treating the case as a potential homicide, sheriff's detectives have been interviewing family members and associates in the East Bay in the hopes of learning more about Hopfe's recent activities.

On Thursday, detectives were distributing fliers in West Marin and Fairfax in search of witnesses who might have seen her recently.

Jessica Bedford, a close friend, said she was unaware of Hopfe knowing anyone in Marin. Hopfe, the daughter of a retired Hayward police officer, was a native of the Pleasanton area and lived in various cities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

"That is the thing that puzzles us the most, is how she got there (in Marin)," said Bedford, 36, who was friends with Hopfe for about 13 years. Hopfe lived with Bedford for several years and worked at her former salon.

Bedford and one of Hopfe's sisters, Brooke, traveled to West Marin on Thursday to lay flowers at Advertisement the site where the body was found.

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A hiker discovered her body near a turnout and down a ravine off Sir Francis Drake Boulevard just east of Platform Bridge Road.

"It's difficult looking at something like that and imagining her being there," said Brooke, a 25-year-old East Bay resident. "It feels unreal."

They described Hopfe as outgoing, fun loving and inclined to shield others from whatever troubles she might have had. Brooke said she was the family member closest to her sister, and that they spoke once or twice a month, but also that Hopfe had been drifting away from the people who knew her.

"We want to know what happened to her," Bedford said. "She deserves justice. She didn't deserve to die this way."

After completing the autopsy and additional testing, the coroner's office released Hopfe's body to her family Thursday so they could begin funeral preparations. Authorities have not released a cause of death and are waiting for toxicology reports.

Anyone with information that could help the investigation is asked to call the Marin County Sheriff's Office at 415-473-7265.